Utility of Feedback Has a Greater Impact on Learning than Ease of Decoding

While feedback is a key facilitator of learning, researchers have yet to determine the ideal feedback process for optimal performance in learners. The current study investigates the combined effects of ease of decoding, and utility of feedback during learning. Accuracy and rate of learning were recorded alongside changes to the feedback related negativity (FRN), an event‐related potential (ERP) elicited by feedback stimuli. This study investigates the FRN within the context of future‐focused directive feedback (DF), in addition to past‐focused evaluative feedback (EF) typically seen in the neuroscience literature. Results indicate a main effect of utility together with an interaction with ease of decoding on the accuracy data, but only the main effect of utility on learning rate. DF produced an FRN, like EF, which was then larger during high‐utility feedback, specifically following negative EF or when hard‐to‐decode. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

‘SENitizing’ migrant children in inclusive settings: exploring the impact of the Salamanca Statement thinking in Italy and the United States

ABSTRACT

This paper emphasizes the aporetic nature of the Salamanca Statement on Special Needs Education (UNESCO, 1994), adopting a cross-cultural perspective. It draws on an intersectional perspective on inclusion (Connor, Ferri & Annamma, 2016; Artiles & Kozleski, 2016 Artiles, A. J., and E. B. Kozleski. 2016. “Inclusive Education’s Promises and Trajectories: Critical Notes About Future Research on a Vulnerable Idea.” Education Policy Analysis Archives 24 (43): 1–29. [Google Scholar]; Erevelles, 2014) to argue that although inclusion has been defined by such an international declaration as a transformative project to ensure access to quality education for all students, national inclusive policies are still focused on a pathological construction of student difference, slowly incorporating children from different linguistic and ethnic backgrounds. The focus on Italy and the United States is a response to examine the discourses and practices of inclusion in two countries that have been impacted by the Salamanca Statement thinking. To substantiate our argument concerned with the limitations embedded in the Salamanca Statement, data from two empirical studies conducted in Rome and in Upstate New York will be presented. The studies show how inclusion leads to overrepresentation of migrant students in Special Educational Needs. We conclude that the Salamanca Statement has been transferred into a tool to strengthen normality against difference, and that it should focus on interrupting micro-exclusions for groups sitting at the intersections of race, ability and other identity markers.     

A Content Analysis of Phonological Awareness and Phonics in Commonly Used Head Start Curricula

Commonly used early childhood curricula were examined to consider the degree to which they support research-based instruction for phonological awareness (PA) and phonics. A content analysis was completed for two types of curricula widely used in Head Start: overarching general curricula and lesson-based curricula, which usually provide more explicit teaching instructions. Both types of curriculum demonstrated the same pattern of findings; while all curricula included some content aligned with standards, programs differed greatly in the number of objectives and instructional strategies included for PA and phonics instruction. Overall, curricula were most likely to address earlier developing PA skills (e.g., rhyming, alliteration) with more limited attention to advanced skills that are closely linked with reading development (e.g., segmenting and blending of phonemes). Phonics instruction was not included often in any of the curricula studied, and opportunities for individualizing instruction were rare, particularly for children with special needs. Results suggest that instructional recommendations for PA and phonics in most of these commonly-used Head Start curricula, even those curricula which typically provide more explicit instruction for teachers, do not align with the instruction provided in effective intervention studies, and therefore may not be powerful enough to influence children’s reading trajectories.     

Prosodic awareness and children’s multisyllabic word reading

Prosodic awareness (the rhythmic patterning of speech) accounts for unique variance in reading development. However, studies have thus far focused on early readers and utilised literacy measures which fail to distinguish between monosyllabic and multisyllabic words. The current study investigated the factors that are specifically associated with multisyllabic word reading in a sample of 50 children aged between 7 and 8 years. Prosodic awareness was the strongest predictor of multisyllabic word reading accuracy, after controlling for phoneme awareness, morphological awareness, vocabulary and short-term memory. Children also made surprisingly few phonemic errors while, in contrast, errors of stress assignment were commonplace. Prosodic awareness was also the strongest predictor of stress placement errors, although this finding was not significant. Prosodic skills may play an increasingly important role in literacy performance as children encounter more complex reading materials. Once phoneme-level skills are mastered, prosodic awareness is arguably the strongest predictor of single word reading.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">MyWallMate</Emphasis>: An Investigation into the use of Mobile Technology in Enhancing Student Engagement

This paper is a report of an investigation in which mobile technologies were used during large lecture-type sessions in tandem with the Textwall? software. This online program is able to receive and present messages from students’ devices that the lecturer may then share. It also can be used to collect student votes on multiple-choice questions, facilitating dynamic formative assessments during class. A study has been undertaken around the MyWallMate mobile application. This program has been developed by Liverpool John Moores University to expedite the process of sending messages and votes to Textwall?. Results of this study indicated that students had a positive reaction to both Textwall? and the MyWallMate application. They reported being more comfortable in expressing their opinions via the MyWallMate mobile application and felt that using mobile technology within their lectures enhanced their learning. It has been concluded that the use of mobile technologies and BYOD-type approaches are avenues worth further exploration in global higher education.     

The Effects of Instruction on Students' Generation of Self-Questions When Reading Multiple Documents

The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of instruction on students' generation of questions when reading multiple documents. Participants were 151 undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: a treatment condition that received question generation instruction and a control condition that did not receive question generation instruction. All participants read four primary-source documents and were asked to generate up to 10 questions based on those documents. Results indicate that students generated significantly fewer higher-order integration questions without instructional support. These results are replicated with an alternative document set to demonstrate that the effects found were not due to the specific historical topic.     

Autonomic Regulation on the Stroop Predicts Reading Achievement in School Age Children

In this study we examined high frequency heart rate variability (HF‐HRV, a parasympathetic index) both at rest and during challenge, to assess if variations in cardiovascular activity measured during a Stroop task could be used to predict reading achievement in typically developing children. Reading achievement was examined using the Peabody Individual Achievement Test–Revised. Results showed that greater HF‐HRV suppression during both the Stroop word and Stroop word–color conflict tasks was associated with better reading achievement. Higher basal levels of HF‐HRV did not predict better reading scores. These results are among the first to show a link between HF‐HRV and reading achievement in a normative school age population, and offer new insight into the association between cognitive activity and autonomic regulation of the heart.     

Guilt,Shame, and Empathy as Predictors of Coping Engagement among United States College Students

College students experience a myriad of stressors in their daily lives. These stressors are associated with negative outcomes for students, both to their academics and well-being. Healthy, effective coping strategies may support students in navigating personal distress. One of the primary aspects of counselling is to help clients develop and apply such strategies. This study aimed to identify intrapersonal factors that predict types of coping strategies. Participants (N?=?416) identified as undergraduate college students attending a large public university in the southwestern United States. Results indicated that a problem-focused engagement coping strategy was associated with maladaptive factors such as shame and personal distress. Additionally, a problem-focused engagement coping strategy was predicted by potentially more helpful intrapersonal characteristics including guilt (as a motivator) and two dimensions of empathy. Finally, mean comparisons indicated statistically significant differences between identified gender and coping strategies. Implications for college counsellors are discussed.

     

Speech and Gesture Production Provide Unique Insights Into Young Children’s Spatial Reasoning

This study took a novel approach to understanding the role of language in spatial development by combining approaches from spatial language and gesture research. It analyzed forty-three 4.5- to 6-year-old’s speech and gesture production during explanations of reasoning behind performance on Spatial Analogies and Children’s Mental Transformation Tasks. Results showed that speech and gesture relevant for solving the trials (disambiguating correct choices) predicted spatial performance when controlling for age, gender, and spatial words and gestures produced. Children performed the spatial tasks well if they produced relevant information either verbally through speech or nonverbally through gesture. These results highlight the importance of not only focusing on concepts children can reference but also on how such concepts are used in spatial tasks.